Thursday, December 11, 2014

Like burns, there are degrees of secrets. First-degree secrets are those that girls share with female friends under clouds of giggles and shushed voices, eyes bright, smiles flashing, with furtive glances to ensure that a certain boy doesn't overhear.

First-degree secrets are relatively painless, subject to no worse than blushes or easy tears depending upon if that boy does or does not return feelings of affection.
Second-degree secrets follow a person from her locker down the school halls—rolling eyes and pointed fingers marking her as surely as a painted X on her back. These secrets don’t leave scars, but injure nonetheless, deep inside where insecurities linger and fester, waiting to explode. The most serious secrets are third degree, just as third degree burns are the worst, leaving the scars, bumpy, pitted, and marred; these secrets irrevocably twist, disfigure, and ruin lives. I’ve had my share of second-degree secrets that I mostly try to ignore, but my third-degree secrets, well, those I hug to me in a fear born of basic survival instincts. My exterior is unblemished, white with blue veins, road maps traveling to foreign places beneath my skin, but inside, the terrain rises into mountains and ridges, scared, puckered, and ugly, un-crossable except by painful passage that I’m unwilling to take.

REVIEW:

Have you ever stopped to think about secrets? Like, really think about them? Roni O'Connell's new sequel to the fabulous novel, FLOAT, inspires you to do just that. The concept that secrets have degrees of severity...it's pure genius.

And O'Connell's execution of the plot nails it once again. The plot explores the depths of secrecy and the characters are very well fleshed out. They are witty, real, and believable, and I found myself totally lost in the book. This is truly saying a lot considering the reading rut I have been in lately!!

The length of the novel is also perfect. It comes in at just the right length to have adequate attention to detail without being too wordy and it pulls you in and lets you go at just the right spots. Roni O'Connell has become an author to watch for and is one author whose books I eagerly await!!

About The Book:

Like burns, there are degrees of secrets. First-degree secrets are those that girls share with female friends under clouds of giggles and shushed voices, eyes bright, smiles flashing, with furtive glances to ensure that a certain boy doesn't overhear.

First-degree secrets are relatively painless, subject to no worse than blushes or easy tears depending upon if that boy does or does not return feelings of affection.
Second-degree secrets follow a person from her locker down the school halls—rolling eyes and pointed fingers marking her as surely as a painted X on her back. These secrets don’t leave scars, but injure nonetheless, deep inside where insecurities linger and fester, waiting to explode. The most serious secrets are third degree, just as third degree burns are the worst, leaving the scars, bumpy, pitted, and marred; these secrets irrevocably twist, disfigure, and ruin lives. I’ve had my share of second-degree secrets that I mostly try to ignore, but my third-degree secrets, well, those I hug to me in a fear born of basic survival instincts. My exterior is unblemished, white with blue veins, road maps traveling to foreign places beneath my skin, but inside, the terrain rises into mountains and ridges, scared, puckered, and ugly, un-crossable except by painful passage that I’m unwilling to take.

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Friday, December 5, 2014

‘Circle of Conspiracy Book One: The Challenge; fourth book in the
triple-trilogy Artesans of Albia fantasy series.’

Friend against friend, lover against lover, ally against
ally. Conflict is coming …

Nine months have passed since Brynne Sullyan helped forge
an alliance between the realms of Albia and Andaryon. A fragile peace reigns as
both sides recover from the events of the previous year. Then mysterious
raiders strike Andaryon villages. Attempts are made on the life of Albia’s High
King. As Sullyan scrambles to find those responsible, unseen enemies threaten
to pull apart everything she has worked for, including her marriage.

The alliance begins to crumble, and Sullyan finds herself
caught between two monarchs: the king she’s sworn allegiance to, and the man
she loves as a father. To betray either one would break her heart, but if
conflict is inevitable, she must make a choice …

First may I say a
huge thank you for inviting me to answer these questions. I really enjoyed
doing so and I hope your readers enjoy them too. Thank you for helping me get
the word out about my fantasy novels, I really appreciate it.

oWho
are you? I’m Cas Peace, a fantasy and non-fiction author
and also freelance editor, from Southern England, UK

oTell
us (briefly) about you... I’m currently 57; I’ve been
married for 24 years to my lovely husband, Dave; we have two rescue Lurchers,
Milly and Milo; I originally trained as a horse-riding teacher and I both ride
and carriage-drive; I sing folk songs and also write songs, and both Dave and I
sing in our local church choir; I play the bodhran (Irish drum); I love
gardening and I have a large collection of cacti.

oA
bit about what you have written… My fantasy series,
Artesans of Albia, consists of nine novels arranged into three trilogies. It’s
aimed mainly at adults, but I’ve had kids as young as 12 read and enjoy the
books. Artesans are people born with a special ability to influence and control
elemental forces, but the Artesan craft is looked on with suspicion by most
‘ordinary’ people. The premise for the series is that a mysterious enemy of
Artesans is trying to eradicate the Artesan craft from the world. He will stop
at nothing, setting friend against friend, lover against lover, and ally
against ally.

oWhat
you are working on right now? Although all nine
of the books in my series are already written, they are not all
publication-ready. I’m still working my way through them to get them polished
and ready in time for their publication dates. Once the whole series has been
published, I have the idea for a YA prequel in mind. I also have editing
clients, so I’m usually pretty busy.

oWhat
are your earliest book-related memories? My earliest
book-related memory is of walking through winter snow to the local library with
my Mum, returning with my chosen books, and curling up by the fire in a huge
armchair and some chocolate to read them. Even after all these years, this is
still my favorite way to relax. In my mind, chocolate is inextricably linked to
reading good books!

oWhat
are your three favorite books? Oh,that’s a hard
one. I don’t often think about havinga “favorite” anything, because there are
so many things I love. But I have read The Lord of the Rings countless times,
and I also adore Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series. In more recent times, Stephen
Donaldson’s Chronicles of Thomas Covenant have been unmissable novels.

oHow
many books to do you read at any given time? If I’m
reading for pleasure, I only read one book at a time. I only get time for
pleasure-reading just before going to sleep, so one book is plenty! But I
almost always have editing clients, so I’m also “reading” their books during
the day.

oWhat
are you reading now? Right now I’m reading “I, the Sun”
by Janet E. Morris. I love Janet’s books, especially her Sacred Band of
Stepsons novels, and I was thrilled when she read and loved my series so much,
she endorsed them.

oFinish
this sentence; when I curl up with a book, I ___ I guess
I’ve already answered this one! When I curl up with a book, I like to have some
chocolate handy!

oTo
re-read or not to re-read that is the question.
I have re-read my favorite books many, many times. I keep print copies of the
best ones and revisit them like old friends. You can almost always notice
something you missed the first time you read a book.

oHow
likely are you to read a book that has been recommended to you?
Fairly likely. As long as it’s been recommended by someone who knows my tastes,
I will read it.

oHow
likely are you to recommend a book (that is not yours)?
Very likely. I do it all the time!

oWhat
do you look for in a good book? Good writing that
flows well. Complex characters I can really believe in. Plots that make sense,
even when they twist. If the author uses cliffhangers, they must be
gasp-worthy, and endings must leave me wanting more.

oWhy
do you write? I love it! It makes me feel
complete. I love the way I can connect with total strangers on a deep and meaningful
level. It makes me feel humble.

oIf
you weren’t a writer, what would you be? On leaving school I
trained as a teacher of horse-riding and my goal was to become a show-jumper.
Unfortunately, my back isn’t very good and my balance suffers because if it, so
I wasn’t as good as I’d have liked to be at riding. That’s why I write horses
into my novels! If I wasn’t a writer, I’d love to go back to teaching
horse-riding.

oWhere
do you draw your inspiration? From everywhere.
Sometimes ideas just pop into my head. Sometimes they are suggested by
listening to and watching other people. Sometimes a TV program will provide a
piece of a puzzle or give me the idea for a story. And sometimes I simply want
to explore how a character might react to a certain situation. Life lends
inspiration all the time.

oWhat
has writing taught you about yourself? It’s made me delve
further into my own emotions and nature than I might otherwise have done. It’s
taught me to be humble, and it’s taught me that I enjoy helping other writers.
It’s given me a measure of confidence I didn’t have before. It might sound
trite, but writing has filled a small hole in my soul I never knew existed.

oHow
do the people in your life seem to view your writing career?
I’m so lucky to have a very supportive family. My husband, who hadn’t read
fantasy before reading my books, is extremely complimentary about my work, and
my mother, who had also never read a fantasy book in her life, is a firm fan.
My brother helps with the folk-type songs and music I write for the books, and
he also loves the novels. And I have many friends among my neighbors who demand
each new books as it’s published.

oAre
there any stereotypes about writers that you don't think are true?
As stereotypes are generalizations, there will always be people to whom they
apply and to whom they don’t. Writers are as diverse a group of people as any
other. I know reclusive writers, writers who put off their tasks, writers who
forget to eat while they’re writing, and writers who never get “blocked”. And,
conversely, I know many writers who are the direct opposite of the types I just
mentioned. Writers are people, and people come in every type you can imagine!

oWhat
do you see as the biggest challenge today for writers starting out?
In many ways, I think it’s now much easier for writers who are just starting
out. I didn’t have the internet when I started, and it was so difficult finding
answers to questions about the industry. Now, that difficulty no longer exists,
although you still have to filter out the good answers from the bad! It’s also
much easier to get published now, and agents and the traditional publishers are
having to change the way they work - no bad thing, in my opinion! But that ease
in getting books “out there” can work both ways, for it means that writers have
to compete harder against more books to get decent sales. Standing out from the
crowd is perhaps harder now than it’s ever been.

oHave
you made any writing mistakes that seem obvious in retrospect but not at the
time? My biggest mistake was to pay a “reading fee” to
an agent. I’d heard all the advice against it, and I knew I was taking a risk,
but I’d spoken to the agent on the phone and they sounded sincere. And I was
desperate to get someone to read my
novel. So I paid the fee (it was £300, about $480 at today’s rates), only to
have the agent disappear with my money. My only consolation was that I wasn’t
the only naive writer to get duped by that fraudulent
person. A lesson learned!

oIs
there a particular project you would love to be involved with?
Like every writer, I’d love a film director to come knocking with a film
proposal! I’m always being told how “visual” my books are and how wonderfully
they’d work as a film. All I need is for a director to think that way too!

oHow
do you deal with your fan base? I do my best to
interact as much as possible with fans. I do have to apportion my time
carefully, else I’d get no editing or writing done, but if someone likes my
work enough to want to talkor ask about
it, I feel honored and don’t want to ignore them. I like talking about my
novels too!

oAnything
else we should know? All the folk-style songs and music
associated with my fantasy books can be heard and downloaded for free from my
website. I’m also on Reverbnation:

oand Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/cas-peace.
Once all the books have been published, I will collate the songs into an
accompanying CD that people can buy.

About the Author - Cas Peace:

Cas Peace was born in Hampshire UK, in 1957,
and has lived there most of her life. Her first career was as a horse-riding
instructor, and horses remain very close to her heart. She then spent 13 years
working for the British Civil Service before leaving the UK to live in Italy
for three years, 1991-1994. She speaks passable but by no means perfect
Italian, and loves to return to Italy whenever she can.

Cas's other great loves are anything to do with
animals, especially dogs and horses, (she supports many animal charities) and
also singing.

Cas loves folk songs and along with her
husband, who plays guitar, has performed in many a Southern England folk club.
Sometimes they even asked her back! She writes folk songs to accompany her
fantasy novels, and offers them as free downloads from her website.

“Cas Peace has a most beguiling method of pulling you into this very well thought out world she has created. You simply fall in love with her characters, and then you cannot put the book down.” -P C Dodge, Amazon Reviewer.

“If you enjoy being whisked away to the realm of fantasy, I strongly suggest this unique, special read! Hands down, one of the best fantasy series I have ever read!” -Ashley L. Knight, author of FALWYN

“I have just loved this entire series. Cas Peace is a master storyteller, providing a depth and breadth of information about her worlds and their people that is just staggering. Her characters are complex and multi-dimensional, and I have very much enjoyed reading this series. I am also looking forward with great anticipation to her next novel in this series. I heartily recommend this series to anyone who enjoys epic fantasy, strong world-building and beautiful storytelling. Highly recommended!” -K. Sozaeva, Amazon Vine Voice and Top 1000 Reviewer.

Cas Peace's Artesans of Albiatrilogy immediately sweeps you away: the drama starts with King's Envoy, continues unabated in King's Champion, and climaxes in King's Artesan, yet each volume is complete, satisfying. The Artesan series propels you into a world so deftly written that you see, feel, touch, and even smell each twist and turn. These nesting novels are evocative, hauntingly real. Smart. Powerful. Compelling. The trilogy teems with finely drawn characters, heroes and villains and societies worth knowing; with stories so organic and yet iconic you know you've found another home—in Albia.

Now there's a fourth book on Albia's horizon: The Challenge, also Book One in Peace's forthcoming sub-series, the Circle of Conspiracytrilogy, proof of more Albian tales on the way. So start reading now. I, for one, can't wait to find out what will happen next. -Janet Morris: The Sacred Band of Stepsons; the Dream Dancerseries; I, the Sun; Outpassage